


A New Beginning?

by RoseintheMist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:34:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26509837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseintheMist/pseuds/RoseintheMist
Summary: It's the start of Severus' first year as a student at Hogwarts. Sirius and James want to talk to him - but what could they have to say that he would want to hear?
Comments: 11
Kudos: 11





	A New Beginning?

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the amazing Harry Potter universe - this is just a fanfiction!** 😉
> 
> This mini-fanfic was inspired by a question asked on Quora. My muse decided to answer the question in story format, and it was fun to follow it and see what happened. I tried to get inside each character's mind and be true to them.
> 
> This is my first time posting in a fan fiction site, so I'm excited and a bit nervous. 😉 I hope you enjoy! 😊

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Snape! Wait up!”

Severus froze at the familiar voice. James Potter. He wouldn’t bother responding. Nothing good could come of it. His hand twitched towards his wand, ready just in case. He increased his pace down the corridor, noting that it was empty as far as he could see.

“Snivellus-” That was Black, loudly.

 _“Stop!”_ That was Potter, hissing at Black. Then his voice came louder - “Snape! Just - stop one second, okay? We just want to talk.”

 _Yeah, right._ He didn’t know why Potter would tell Black to stop, but he wasn’t going to hang around to find out. He sped up further and turned a corner.

“Oh, hang it.” Potter’s voice sounded frustrated behind him. There were pounding sounds. They were _running after him now_. Severus stiffened and broke into a run. _Drat_ \- he had long passed the tapestry tunnel he had been intending to enter before they came. Now he was nearing a dead end. Scanning the space swiftly, he turned and whipped out his wand, ready for battle.

Potter and Black rounded the corner, stopping as soon as they spotted him, puffing a bit for a moment. They looked wary. Black’s hand moved towards his robe pocket, but Potter’s arm flashed out and stopped him. Severus frowned but stayed in his stance.

“Snape.” Potter held out his hands, palms pointing up. “Look, we don’t mean you any harm. We actually -” He hesitated, looking awkward and defiant. “Want to apologize.”

 _What?_ For several moments Severus simply stared at them. Why would he say that? He glanced at Black, who looked disgruntled. Potter elbowed Black, and Black coughed. “Yes, we - er, do.”

Severus narrowed his eyes. “Why?” His voice echoed a bit. He was all alone. As usual. Cornered. He didn’t trust them.

“Because, we weren’t - well, we were a bit unfriendly on the train,” said Potter. “You weren’t friendly either, of course, but we’re apologizing for our bit,” he finished in a rush, lifting his chin.

Severus couldn’t think of anything else to say but, “Why?”

Black snorted a bit, and Potter elbowed him again.

“Don’t you get it?” Black said. “We’re trying to be _nice.”_

 _Yeah, right._ His eyes flicked from one to the other. What was their motive?

“Okay.” Potter folded his arms. “Lily - your friend, you know? She kind of - laid into us for what we said. She wouldn’t stop until we said we’d apologize. So - here we are.” He shrugged, looking like he was trying to be nonchalant.

 _Lily talked to them?_ Severus stiffened. He didn’t like her talking to them - at least not without him. And she was in Gryffindor with them, every day -

“Hey! Did you hear us?” Black said.

Severus glared at him. “I heard you,” he said stiffly. “But why should I believe you?”

Potter rolled his eyes. “Because of _Lily,_ mate,” he said. “Look, you can ask her if you want. She was _furious_ with us.”

She was furious with them? Good. That was something. He relaxed, just slightly.

Black snorted. “You can say _that_ again. You’ve got a very loyal friend there, Sni - Snape.”

 _Hm._ “She’s my _best_ friend,” Severus said loudly.

“Yeah, we get it,” said Potter. “We just want to call it a truce, okay? You don’t have to be friends with us or anything, just, we’re sorry, and we’re not going to - be like that again - unless you attack us or insult us or something,” he finished defiantly.

“I won’t attack you if you don’t attack me,” said Severus slowly. He’d be on his guard, though. “And I won’t insult you, either,” he said grudgingly, “unless you insult me - or Lily. Don’t think we’ll be talking to you much, anyway.”

“Yeah, same here. Well, that’s it then.” Potter looked a bit relieved. He nodded at Severus, then abruptly turned. “Come on, Sirius.”

Black eyed Severus for a brief moment, jerked a quick nod, and then turned and followed Potter. Their heads came together as if they were whispering. About him, probably. No matter. He’d be ready whatever happened.

Lily had spoken up for him. He felt a small warm spot in his stomach. It felt strange. Maybe she’d stay away from them now. Or… maybe she’d be nicer to them because they’d apologized. Tension replaced the warm spot. He rubbed his temples. He had to find her soon, get her story, make sure she didn’t like them after this. At least not much.

**Author's Note:**

> So there you go. I'm not sure what the long-term ramifications of this apology would be, but I'd like to think that James and Sirius would refrain from bullying Severus, and that Severus would not try to get Remus into trouble later on. Would this be enough to stop Severus on his dark path? It would be great if it did, but I'm not sure, since he didn't really listen to Lily's concerns. I'd love to know your thoughts! 😊


End file.
